Avignon Timeline By AGF Jun 4, 1305 Pope Clement V moves to France to escape the the oppression coming from Italy. May 6, 1312 Council of Vienne ends, but Pope Clement is too ill to make it back to Rome. Jan 1, 1348 Avignon becomes Papal Property. This means that Avignon is now the place of the Pope. Jan 1, 1370 Pope Urban V decides to go back to Avignon because of difficulties between France and England. Jan 17, 1377 Pope Gregory XI is persuaded to move the papacy back to Rome. Jan 1, 1378 Urban VI, the Archbishop of Bari, is elected to avoid a massacre in Rome. Jan 1, 1477 The Great Schism is finally healed, and the Pope is now officially back in Rome.